Jason Mraz knew the moment he heard Raining Jane perform eight years ago that his musical future would be intertwined with this accomplished band from Los Angeles.

The result of their now-blossoming collaboration is his inviting new album — the emphatically titled “Yes!” — and a world tour that begins here Thursday with a nearly sold-out three-night stand at the San Diego Civic Theatre. (Ticket information appears at the conclusion of this article.) The four-woman Raining Jane will open the show with a mini-set, then accompany multiple Grammy Award winner Mraz during his performance of new material and freshly rearranged old favorites.

Jason Mraz, "Love Someone"

“We met in September of 2006 at Redlands University, where we were both booked to play at a festival,” Mraz recalled of his first encounter with Raining Jane.

“I loved their attitude, how they connected with the audience and their musicianship. They just put on a killer show! Right after their set, I introduced myself and asked if they ever wanted to come over and collaborate. They said: ‘Yes’. ”

Mraz and Raining Jane began writing songs together in early 2007, and their musical chemistry was immediate. Subsequent informal collaborations planted the seeds for his new album.

“In the back of my mind, I thought we’d do an EP or a (side project) album of this special material we co-wrote,” Mraz said. “I never expected it to become such a main event. But in October of 2012, we got together, and then again the following February, and we had this writing session unlike anything we’d done. … I said: ‘Wow, this is unbelievable! This is a great album.’ ”

His record company, Atlantic, agreed. So did his astute manager, former top San Diego concert promoter Bill Silva, who also played a key early role in the careers of the bands blink-182 and Unwritten Law.

Over the past 16 years, Silva has helped transform Mraz from a promising young singer-songwriter into an international star. The Virginia-born troubadour has sold millions of albums, scored a Top 10 single — 2007’s “I’m Yours” (which spent a then-record-setting 76 weeks on the national Billboard charts) — and headlined the Hollywood Bowl, London’s massive O2 Arena and other major venues around the world.

Impressed by Mraz and Raining Jane’s songs, Silva and Atlantic promptly said yes to “Yes!”

The 14-song release is Mraz’s seventh major-label album. Its mostly acoustic instrumentation and shimmering, multiple-part vocal harmonies mark a new chapter for him.

In turn, he credits the energy and high artistic quality of Raining Jane — which features singer-percussionist Mona Tavakoli, singer-bassist Becky Gebhardt and singer-guitarists Mai Bloomfield and Chaska Potter — with re-energizing him. Raining Jane was formed in 1999, when its members were students at UCLA.

“For every album, I’ve put together a different band,” Mraz noted, speaking en route from his Oceanside home to a rehearsal with Raining Jane at downtown’s Spreckels Theatre.

“I’m used to reinventing myself, and this gives me the opportunity to reinvent in a more acoustic (music) style, where everyone is on instruments that resonate naturally. So, we have to think differently about our voices and the similarities and sounds of the instruments. We have to be very specific with our (individual) parts, because there are so few of us.